Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Holy Batman Day! We're celebrating the Caped Crusader with a bonus podcast episode starring Batman, Robin, and Superman. The Dynamic Duo co-stars with the Man of Steel in "Batman's Great Mystery," a serialized story from The Adventures of Superman (originally aired on Mutual between February 10 and February 17, 1948). 

In this week's bonus comedy episode, we'll hear more satire and spoofs from The Stan Freberg Show . Freberg and his cast send up politics, music, and more in a pair of shows. Stan welcomes an alien to Earth (originally aired on CBS on August 11, 1957) and he battles a censor with an itchy trigger finger (originally aired on CBS on August 18, 1957).

We're celebrating the birthday of master of mystery Agatha Christie with a pair of old time radio shows. First, her story "Witness for the Prosecution" is adapted for  Radio City Playhouse (originally aired on NBC on April 25, 1949). Then, Harold Huber is Christie's Belgian super sleuth Hercule Poirot in "Rendezvous with Death," an original radio mystery (originally aired on Mutual on July 12, 194...

New movies are headed back to theaters, and while it isn't safe yet to grab a seat in a theater, you can enjoy a double feature of classic films presented by the cast of The Jack Benny Program . First, Ray Milland joins their spoof of "The Lost Weekend" (originally aired on NBC on March 10, 1946). Then, the gang sends up "Sunset Boulevard" (3/25/51).

Detective Danny Clover stands out from the crowd of radio detectives. He was introspective and insightful, and he only drew his gun as a last resort. And as the star of  Broadway is My Beat , Larry Thor brought Clover to life and gave us a romantic, but slightly cynical, cop with a worldview that governed how he tackled his cases. We'll hear "The Jane Darnell Murder Case" (originally aired on CBS...

School is back in session across the country, and this week we'll head to class at Madison High with Eve Arden in Our Miss Brooks . The faculty and students star in a pair of comedies: first, the school's star basketball player has to pass Connie's exam or he can't play (originally aired on CBS on February 13, 1949). Then, Miss Brooks has to sneak out for traffic court without Mr. Conklin finding...

It's the 400th episode of "Down These Mean Streets!" To celebrate, I'm sharing the first detective shows I heard - the episodes that sparked my love of old time radio mystery drama. Join me for "The Big Scoop Matter" from  Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956); "The Case of the Careworn Cuff" from  The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe  (originally aired on NBC on Oc...

Summer is winding down, and some of radio's comedy couples are planning a getaway! We'll hear Fibber McGee angle for Molly to join him on a two-week fishing trip (originally aired on NBC on June 11, 1946). Then, Phil Harris and Alice Faye try to leave Elliott Lewis at home during their two-month mountain vacation (originally aired on NBC on June 28, 1953).

Willard Waterman may be best known for his long and very funny run on radio as The Great Gildersleeve , but he showed off his serious side on some of the era's best crime dramas. We'll hear him as a detective tracking a killer in the jungle of Borneo in "Red Wine" from  Escape (originally aired on CBS on August 11, 1949). Then, he's a murderer plotting the perfect crime in "The New Mrs. Devlin" fr...

Before he moved to Bedrock and voiced Fred Flintstone, Alan Reed was a busy radio actor. He popped up on  The Shadow ,  Philip Marlowe , and  Sam Spade , but he was most frequently heard on comedies. We'll shine the spotlight on Reed for this week's bonus comedy episode in two old time radio sitcoms. First, he's Mr. Clyde, the long-suffering boss of Marie Wilson in  My Friend Irma (originally aire...

The man called Paladin - a gentleman gunfighter for hire in the west of 1875 - rode from television to radio in  Have Gun - Will Travel . A rare radio spin-off of a TV series, it continued the adventures of the gunman who dressed in black and hired himself out to anyone who could pay his fee - a sort of cowboy private eye. John Dehner stars as Paladin in "Three Bells to Perdido" (originally aired...

We'll hear more of  The Stan Freberg Show - one of the most original and inspired comedies the radio era ever produced - in this week's bonus episode. Stan and his cast (June Foray, Peter Leeds, and Daws Butler) send up the Miss Universe pageant, American history,  The Lux Radio Theatre , and more in episodes originally aired on CBS on July 28 and August 4, 1957).

Vincent Price returns as "the Robin Hood of modern crime" in two old time radio adventures of  The Saint . Simon Templar solves crimes with charm and style with the help (and car) of his loyal cabbie sidekick Louie. We'll hear "The What-Not What Got Hot" (originally aired on NBC on March 4, 1951) and "Fishes Gotta Eat" (originally aired on April 29, 1951).

In this week's bonus comedy show, we celebrate the return of baseball with a pair of shows featuring stars enjoying America's pastime. First, Jack Benny and his gang listen to the World Series (originally aired on October 10, 1948). Then, Eve Arden's  Our Miss Brooks tries to come up with money for uniforms for the school's baseball team (originally aired on CBS on March 26, 1950).

The crimes of Jack the Ripper and the mystery of his identity have captivated scholars and readers for over a century, including old time radio writers. We'll hear a pair of shows inspired by the still unsolved crime spree of 19th century London. First, the hunt for the Ripper extends to Chicago in "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper," an Armed Forces Radio Service production from The Mollé Mystery Thea...

With his booming voice and signature giggle, Harold Peary was an audience favorite during the golden age of radio - first as a foil on  Fibber McGee and Molly and later in his own spin-off  The Great Gildersleeve . Later, he launched a star vehicle all his own in  The Harold Peary Show . We'll hear episodes of both series in this week's bonus comedy episode. First, Gildy is finishing his summer va...

Before his award-winning stage and screen turns in  My Fair Lady and long before he talked to the animals, Rex Harrison starred as a debonair radio detective in  The Private Files of Rex Saunders . Joined by his loyal assistant Alec, Saunders used smarts and a sophisticated flair to solve crimes. We'll hear Rex as Rex in "High Dividends...Or Shallow Graves" (originally aired on NBC on May 30, 1951...

Before her landmark sitcom hit the small screen, Lucille Ball was a comedy star on radio. We'll hear the legendary redhead in a guest spot alongside Bud and Lou on  The Abbott and Costello Show (originally aired on NBC on November 18, 1943). Then, as Liz Cooper, she takes French lessons in  My Favorite Husband (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1949).

William Gargan played several cops on screen and the radio, but his most famous role may have been Barrie Craig, the sardonic New York shamus who qupped his way through cases for five years on the air. We'll hear Gargan in a pair of mysteries, beginning with "Zero Hour" (originally aired on NBC on February 2, 1954). Then we'll hear "Mid-Summer Lunacy" (originally aired on NBC on August 17, 1954).

For 15 fabulous weeks in 1957, Stan Freberg brought his signature satirical style to radio in one of the last original comedies of the era. Freberg and his immensely talented cast skewered pop culture and presented zany characters that were unlike anything radio had presented before. We'll hear the first two episodes of this too short-lived series, originally aired on CBS on July 14 and July 21, 1...

Jackson Beck was one of the busiest voice artists of the twentieth century with a career that extended far beyond the Golden Age of Radio. But before he introduced  G.I. Joe and pitched Little Caesars, Frosted Flakes, and Battleship on television, Beck starred as dapper detective Philo Vance in a syndicated series. We'll hear Beck in three mysteries: "The Cardinal Murder Case," "The Nightmare Murd...

Comedian Red Skelton is a one-man cast of characters in this week's bonus comedy episode. We'll hear Deadeye, Willie Lump-Lump, Junior "the mean widdle kid," and more in a pair of episodes from  The Raleigh Cigarette Program . First, it's a salute to traffic court (originally aired on NBC on April 1, 1947). Then, Deadeye rides again in a show from April 15, 1947.

Chester Morris puts his criminal past to work for the forces of good as  Boston Blackie - "enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend." We'll hear the reformed safe cracker turned super sleuth in two old time radio mysteries: "Fifty Hunter Street" (originally aired on NBC on June 30, 1944) and "The Caretaker of the Devon Estate" (originally aired on NBC on July 28, 19...

Radio characters didn't come daffier than Irma Peterson, the scatterbrained secretary who never met a phrase she couldn't twist. And Irma had one of radio's best straight women in roommate Jane Stacy. Together, they made wonderful radio comedy in  My Friend Irma . Marie Wilson and Cathy Lewis star in this week's bonus comedy show; we'll hear a pair of episodes originally aired on CBS on March 15,...

"Adventure wanted." That's how Dan Holiday advertised in  Box 13 and he used his exploits to fuel plots for his novels. Alan Ladd stars as Holiday in three syndicated old time radio tales of mystery. We'll hear the show's first episode, along with "The Sad Night" and "Flash of Light."